15 October 2009

Traffic Developments at the Central German Airports up to September 2009

Developments in traffic at the Central German airports showed very different trends  the fall in passenger numbers at Leipzig/Halle and Dresden Airports was quite different  and the amount of freight handled at Leipzig/Halle Airport bucked the sector trend with ongoing growth

The commercial airports at Leipzig/Halle and Dresden International, which are incorporated in the Mitteldeutsche Airport Holding, registered 3,134,530 fare-paying passengers in the year up to September 2009. This represents a decline of 5.5 percent over the figure for the same period in the previous year. While Dresden International recorded a fall of 8.6 percent during the first nine months of the year on account of the economic crisis, passenger numbers at Leipzig/Halle Airport fell by just 3.2 percent to 1,841,881 and were therefore much better than the average figure for German airports.

The number of flights fell by 3 percent to 71,518 at the two airports in the company group during the past nine months. There were 26,614 take-offs and landings at Dresden, a reduction of 6.5 percent. Leipzig/Halle Airport, on the other hand, registered only a slight fall of 0.7 percent with 44,904 flights. Despite the global economic crisis, the flights on offer at the two airports have remained stable.

As a result of business operations at the DHL air freight hub and following the establishment of AeroLogic, the first intercontinental airline based at Leipzig/Halle, Leipzig/Halle Airport was able to continually increase its freight volumes. The amounts handled totalled 369,166.2 tonnes to the end of September, reflecting a 16.7 percent increase over the same period in the previous year. This reinforces the airports position as the third largest logistics airport in Germany.

Mitteldeutsche Airport Holding is the overall trade name used by Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG, a company operated by the public sector. The group has several subsidiary companies: Leipzig/Halle Airport, Dresden International Airport, PortGround and EasternAirCargo.

The group handled 96,892 aircraft movements, 4.32 million passengers and 442.750 tonnes of freight in 2008. The group directly employs 970 members of staff and trainees. More than 7000 people are employed at the Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG business sites in various companies and public authorities.